SMI Buys Land To Increase Parking At Kentucky Speedway

Speedway Motorsports Inc. purchased 143 acres of land across from Kentucky Speedway to expand parking, which caused a huge debacle at the team’s inaugural Sprint Cup race this season.

SMI also said it would hire professional parking and engineering services to manage automotive and pedestrian traffic flows during event days.

As a result, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet vowed to improve surrounding highways to allow faster access to the expanded parking areas.

Kentucky Speedway General Manager Mark Simendinger said:

We learned meaningful lessons during our inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race weekend and we committed that the traffic congestion that occurred on race day would not happen again. It was important for us to act quickly and I am thrilled to report this solution, which was formed in only seven short weeks. I compliment and thank SMI Chairman and CEO Bruton Smith, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and KYTC Sec. Mike Hancock for working collaboratively on this plan.

The new parcel of land is expected to increase parking capacity by 35%.

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Michael J Smith Michael J. Smith is a NASCAR enthusiast and blogger. In addition to founding this website, Michael is a journalist with over a decade of experience writing for prestigious media organizations.